14 September 2015

The road towards respect has started for the Meralco Bolts as they begin their quest to snare at least one, if not all, of the three championships up for grabs this coming 41st season of the PBA.

And for this ragtag squad, what better way for them to prepare for this season than get a taste of higher competition and have a grind out of the country

Meralco engaged its whole squad to one of the toughest offseason workouts in Las Vegas at Impact Basketball in hopes of improving its standing this season.

With the return of big man Rabeh Al-Hussaini from a one-year hiatus, along with the acquisition of Bryan Faundo and Justin Chua from the free agency market, coach Norman Black felt the Bolts now have a younger, more reliable front court to work on come next season.

The three new big men will be joining veterans Sean Anthony, Cliff Hodge, Reynel Hugnatan and Kelly Nabong – a front line that Black feels can now match up with powerhouse San Miguel Beer, Star Hotshots and Talk ‘N Text.

"We wanted to go for big men about three weeks before the draft because we didn’t really have any," Black told Philstar.com.

"But we were able to commit Rabeh to come back and play for us. And then we picked up Bryan Faundo from Blackwater, plus we picked up Justin Chua (from Barako Bull), in addition to Kelly Nabong, whom we got last season in the third conference," he added.

"So you couple them with Reynel, Sean and Cliff, and we think we're pretty full at the bigs already."

Black boosted the team’s guard spot by selecting Chris Newsome as the team's fourth overall pick in the recent PBA Annual Rookie Draft, before adding San Beda playmaker Baser Amer, who was tabbed at no. 7.

Black said the team’s two-week schedule in Las Vegas will consists of a lot of individual workout, conditioning and team training using the Impact basketball concept, while mixing it up with team bonding in the US.

Impact Basketball began in 1997 when former Division I coach Joe Abunassar applied his unique approach and combination of basketball skills training, strength and conditioning training, nutritional programming, and mental conditioning training, to guide the careers of several of the NBA’s best players.

These players' careers soared to new levels, and, in 2001, Abunassar decided that this same system could greatly benefit players of all ages who have the desire to improve. From that, Impact Basketball was born and has gone on to be the major force and leader in the player development world.

Players, coaches, trainers, and teams from around the world now look to Impact for guidance in player development and overall team building and preparation. Over the years, as the program has grown, Impact has continued to stay ahead of the industry and remains the first choice for player development.

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PBA Advisory

2017 Commissioner's Cup Format

The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6-foot-10.

The top 2 teams will earn twice-to-beat edges over Nos. 7 and 8 while the No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 versus No. 5 pairing will be a best-of-three affair in the quarterfinals.

The semifinal stage will have a pair of best-of-five matches and the finals will be a race-to-four affair.

Gilas Pilipinas

Manila will host one of the three tournaments in the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament. The Philippine national men’s basketball team will try to pull off massive upsets against France, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey and Senegal in the competition slated on July 5 to July 10 at Mall of Asia Arena.

A total of 18 teams will participate in the three-nation event whose champions will book tickets to the 2016 Rio Olympics.